the sound & the fury

“C’mon, Nott. Unless you’re too scared.”

“Savage. Tempting, but savage. Are you speaking from experience?”

“Hell no. Your brother’s nice. Mine would see it coming from six miles away and gut me.”

❝Kill your brother, you’ll feel better.❞

❝Jesus Chris. Not another dance off.❞

“Hogwash. You can get to the top if people elect you to the top. That’s how it works, right? An honest person could make it there. But yes, they’re real dreadful. My calves are really feeling the burn.” He reached forward for the water bottle with a grateful grin, heaving in a few gulps of breath as he straightened up his posture. “Thank you for not leaving me hanging to dry.”

"Okay, maybe, but they’d still need to be at least a little scheming and a lot charming then. Don’t you think so? Got to draw the public in with something. But see, this is why the Floo was invented. Because our building are way too big and have way too many staircases to actually walk. Don’t mention it, though. It’s public decency; you can’t just leave a bloke dying on the steps. It ruins the image of the Ministry.”

“It’s not classist to not find ponytails professional, but if you’d prefer one, your hair could definitely pull it off right now. Just make sure to keep the tangled bits in the back, if you could. Oh, is it? I suppose I can’t argue with that logic. Do you plan on ‘making it happen’ again soon?”

“Nah, I’ll love without the ponytail for now. But visual professionalism is a myth, my friend. It’s all in the work.” Not that, in her bustier and distressed shorts, Valentina could talk. “But also, always. Life’s too short to skimp on excitement. Don’t you agree?”

“I think if being the very presence of myself, Adonis, the clamoured after god of beauty, they can handle your mortal beauty – even if you are of the intimidating kind. I’ve already weeded out the weak. Use your charm and beauty for good, bring me more customers, and I’ll get you a free drink.”

“Aw, intimidating is nicest thing anyone’s ever called me. But listen, nobody wants to flirt with a god, buddy. Pretty much everyone who tries ends up wildlife, whereas gods lose their shit over pretty mortals on a regular basis. So I’m not where you’re going with this Adonis business.”

“Please,” Rose said dismissively, “I bet you could get anyone you wanted. Including me.”

“Oh no, how did you know that was my secret plot all along? It’s my life’s ambition to land a nice like trophy spouse like yourself. A money honey bunny, if you will. Will you marry me, Rose Weasley?”

“We all may die, but we have control over our circumstances otherwise. Riddle may have been born unable to create emotional connections, but that does not mean that he wasn’t aware that what he was doing was frowned upon by moral ethics.” Emotions were a subject that was harder to talk about so practically, Brent had come to find. Nor was he as well-versed in them, as Valentina was well aware. “So no, I would still say that he is responsible for the heinous crimes that he committed. By the time he was through, he was but a shriveled shell. A fate that he decided on his own accord, regardless of the circumstances of his birth.” Brent was not the type to so easily offer excuses. Or affections. Throwing his sister an incredulous look, he angled his head to the side. “Hardly. Any positive regard that I have for anyone is not unconditionally given. You should know me well enough to know that my first impression of an individual, if sour, typically sticks as such, but that is not the case should my first impression be otherwise.”

“So says you. An existentialist would agree, a nihilist would not. There’s no proof, is there? But of course, it’s very easy to blame your heredity or fate or what have you. It doesn’t really matter if he had emotions or not, because even those without empathy can realise normative morals. That just takes basic intellect, so I’m pretty sure he has no excuse. I am surprised, however, that nobody else seems to have caught on to that explanation as an excuse?" A wry grin lit Valentina’s face, amusement stark in the face of her brother’s formal response to her teasing. It left her both fighting off a smile and unbearably fond of this terrifying, wonderful force of nature she had somehow wound up siblings with. “Yes, of course, why ever would one believe otherwise? We all know your good opinion once lost is lost forever, Mr. Darcy.”

“We all are going to die someday,” Brent reminded her, “And we do control our actions, but how do you suggest to fight against nature? The splitting isn’t a solution; it’s a consequence. For abusing magic that we were born with. That puts us a step ahead of the rest of society and the dire consequences that while magic can give, it can also take. Outside of the soul splitting, we have also seen in history the grave consequences of messing with love potions. Momentary happiness may occur, but it’s not real. And because of such a potion, Tom Riddle was born into the world incapable of love or attachment and tried to burn the world done in his emptiness, seeking out immortality, which in itself also comes with a consequence. Nothing in this world comes free or without conditions.”

“Well, obviously, but you don't have to think about it all the time. That’s the point, isn’t it? Everyone knows we all die some day, but it’s only those select few theories that insist on focusing on it. It’s not a bad idea, per se, especially as a motivator, but it is rather dismal. I agree, though, that’s true. Do you ever think of it in a consequential sequence though? Maybe Riddle was already doomed because of his mother’s choices — in the way of the naturalistic narrative, where heredity plays a key role. Maybe the very fact that she used a love potion ensured that he won’t be able to form meaningful relationships and have any real emotional connections. But that completely opposes the responsibility existentialism, and possibly you, attach to one’s own actions, so I don’t know if i believe it. Do you? Also, that said, you’re a dirty, rotten liar, Brent Nott. Your love for me absolutely comes free and without conditions.” 

“Will you promise not to use your intimidating powers for evil and scare off my customers?”

“Uh, no. I mean, I can try but they might be too intimidated by their first sighting of a beautiful person in this bar and be scared off anyway.”

“Which has obviously worked out well for me,” Rose holds up her left hand and wiggles her ring finger. She isn’t upset that she isn’t in a relationship, but sometimes she forgets what it’s like to be with someone, to have someone that you trust no matter what. A relationship that isn’t just familial. “Maybe I’ll start using that as my pickup line.”

For a moment, a grimace pulled Valentina's face. It wasn't that she didn't like romance, it was just that she had no time for neither pointless flirting nor accommodating for others' feelings when she was too busy trying to be successful to service her own. She could understand the appeal, tjough, so her tone remained light, amused. “I mean, it’s worked on me. I have been swept away by your charm and beautiful titian curls!”

“Hard to trip over a broom when you’re usually flying on it. Very easy to run into other people, however.”

“And literally sweeping people off their feet. Can’t forget that.”

“Those sound like a pair of shoes I could actually get behind. And by get behind, I mean actually walk in. You think I might actually have an ounce of grace in my body, but you’d be completely incorrect. Last time I wore heels I almost broke both my ankles.”

“Well nobody said quidditch players have to be graceful on their feet. As long as you don’t trip over your broom, it’s all good, kid.”

“No, no, ponytails are confined to Fridays and weekend mornings only. No need to waste one on today when you almost look you styled your hair this way on purpose. At least tell me your night was worth this trouble?”

“Oh come on, don’t be old-fashioned and classicist. Ponytails are fun. And as fashionable as you want them to be. You just need to have attitude to pull it off, right? But of course it was. Every night is worth the trouble if you want to make it happen.”

“The woman leading it was screaming at us the entire time - I dunno if the class with the positive reinforcement tactic was full or what, but it felt like hell on earth .”

“Oh, my Merlin. Was it SoulCycle or boot camp?”